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Beethoven - The Piano Concertos - Vladimir Ashkenazy/London Symphony Orchestra [1974]

Staring: Vladimir Ashkenazy, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Director: Brian Large
Average Customer Rating:

List Price: ~~£24.99~~
Our Price: £21.60

Product Details
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Exempt
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0044007432143
Format: Box set, Classical, Colour, DVD-Video, PAL
Label: Universal Classics & Jazz
Manufacturer: Universal Classics & Jazz
Number Of Discs: 2
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Universal Classics & Jazz
Region Code: 2
Release Date: 2007-08-13
Running Time: 277
Studio: Universal Classics & Jazz
Theatrical Release Date: 1974

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Customer Reviews

The sound is just not acceptable beware this is MONO, 2007-12-09
I bought this DVD but was disappointed and could not listen to it with headphones it is positively painful to listen to because the sound is so muffled and toppy. I also found this archive not easy to watch with the poor wishy washy colour, couldn't they have enhanced that? and austere surroundings. One would have expected a recording to have been superior to on air quality at the time, after all they had the technology even then.

The Dolby so called enhanced mono is not much better than mono and being used to first class Nicam sound from DVDs and digital cable TV on a good TV set and DVD player it is unacceptable. Furthermore if you are an audiophile or like myself have played in orchestras you will find the sound unacceptable unless you are deaf.

It was not made clear by Amazon that this is a mono recording therefore I sent it back for a full refund. I am pleased to say that Amazon have refunded my credit card with no quibble.

I would never have bought it had it been made clear it is mono. I guess I have been spoilt by watching the excellent recent Proms offerings on BBC2 and BBC4 and the many excellent DVDs I own, even some of my old VHS music tapes are better than this!

By the way it was the LPO as another reviewer suggested and not LSO as Amazon had it so Amazon got that wrong too!

Icing on the cake, 2008-11-14
I owned and loved these piano concerto performances, on audio tape, in the 1970s but I had not played them for a long time. This set of 2 DVDs has rekindled my interest in the Beethoven concertos. I find the sound quality is very good and one becomes absorbed in these fantastic performances. The London Philharmonic orchestra plays crisply and with sensitivity. Also included are Beethoven's eighth symphony, the Egmont overture and Leonora numbers 2 and 3, all excellent. To be able to see the passion of the performances as well as to listen really is the icing on the cake. Highly recommended.

Buried treasure from the BBC archive, 2007-08-13
This is a wonderful artefact. A series of 1974 live BBC broadcasts from the Royal Festival Hall, including all of the Piano Concertos, and also the 8th Symphony and several overtures. Outside of their own Proms season, the BBC don't do this kind of arts programming any more; even Radio 3 has recently moved away from live broadcasts in favour of recorded material. The concerts are presented as broadcast, with an urbane presenter (Basil Moss) located in one of the boxes giving some incisive background detail before each performance, reading from scholarly books (actually picking up the books and reading) and cue cards and generally not treating the audience like school children, in contrast to the current trend.

And the music making is wonderful. Both Ashkenazy and the conductor Bernard Haitink were at the height of their powers - Ashkenazy had such a profile at this time that the five concerts sold out far in advance. Both are visibly consumed in the fire of the music. The 2nd and 3rd concertos are particularly thrilling - Ashkenazy moving with the music, hunched over his keyboard, interacting with Haitink, clearly moved by the playing in some of the orchestral passages; Haitink, slim, elegant, firey and intense in those days, spurring the orchestra on. This is a fine DVD for lovers of Beethoven, and is well worth seeking out.

orchestra..?, 2007-09-28
Great news - I remember these being televised in the 70s.

But wasn't the orchestra the London Philharmonic, rather than LSO (which Amazon claims)..?

A welcome reappearance, 2008-07-02
I have been listening to these wonderful works for some 60 years and have thoroughly enjoyed re-hearing and seeing these performances. I watched several of them in 1974 and realised what a talent Ashkenazy was.

Agreed the sound and picture are not up to 2008, but the spirit of the Orchestra and Haitinck match Ashkenazy in splendid performances.

Strongly recommended